3D打印机OEM3D系统与澳大利亚卫星开发人员合作车队空间to 3D print radio frequency (RF) patch antennas for use on the latter’s Alpha satellites.
Specifically, 3D Systems’ Application Innovation Group (AIG) helped Fleet Space take its design and transition to small batch production in just three weeks using theDMP Flex 350metal printer. Fleet Space is in the process of procuring a DMP Flex 350 for its HQ in Beverley, Adelaide, to eventually bring patch antenna manufacturing in-house.
3D打印的天线将是Fleet Space的Alpha星座中每个卫星的关键组成部分，该星座计划于2023年发射到低地轨道（LEO）。
“3D Systems helps aerospace customers accelerate innovation and de-risk their additive manufacturing application development,” said Dr. Michael Shepard, VP of aerospace & defense segment, 3D Systems. “We do this by partnering with customers to provide an application solution with the right hardware, materials, software, and services for their needs. In this case, we’ve been able to help Fleet Space Technologies bring a qualified production process for their satellite hardware in-house in a very short amount of time.”
The rise of Fleet Space
车队空间致力于成为澳大利亚崭露头角的太空行业的领导者，该国政府预计到2030年，该国政府将达到120亿美元，创造了另外20,000个工作岗位。该公司于2018年首次出现在雷达上，当时它将澳大利亚的第一组商业纳米卫星推向了狮子座：Proxima 1，Proxima 2，Centauri 1和Centauri 2。
The end of last year saw Fleet Space reveal plans to launch its Alpha satellites, which are thought to be theworld’s first entirely 3D printed satellites。一旦运行，Alpha星座将与现有的半人马座星座to provide continuous coverage at data rates of up to 520kbps.
More importantly, the dual satellite system will form the backbone of the firm’s ExoSphere initiative, which aims to revamp mineral exploration with minimally invasive ambient noise tomography technology. In essence, the satellites are expected to be able to pinpoint critical resources on Earth’s surface up to 100 times faster than traditional methods such as explosives, vibroseis machines, and drilling.
Fifty-five patch antennas per build
Each Alpha satellite will feature up to 64 metal 3D printed patch antennas. The Fleet Space team originally designed the antennas to meet strict size, weight, and performance requirements, all while minimizing the need for post-processing. Such a geometry could only be fabricated using additive manufacturing technology.
3D Systems的AIG帮助该公司在DMP Flex 350，Laserform ALSI10MG和AL6061-RAM2上开发了两种不同金属的印刷过程。
在这里，机器的真空腔室结构对于构建的成功至关重要，因为它可以保持低氧气<25 ppm。它不仅大大降低了氩气消耗，而且还具有出色的表面饰面，并具有精美的功能细节。据报道，这是最大程度地减少天线信号损失的关键。
在3D Systems的3DXPERT软件的帮助下，合作伙伴现在可以在DMP Flex 350上每次打印的3D打印批量的3D打印批次。
Flavia Tata Nardini, founder and CEO of Fleet Space Technologies, said, “Together with 3D Systems’ AIG, we are unlocking the remarkable potential of additive manufacturing at our world-class facility in Adelaide, South Australia. This technology will enable our people to create the production processes that will deliver on Fleet’s ambition to launch more than 140 low earth orbit satellites in the Alpha constellation.”
舰队空间并不是唯一探索3D印刷卫星组件的公司。今年早些时候，3D Systems还宣布了航空航天制造商Airbuscontracted it to3D print critical parts for its upcoming OneSat satellite。Unlike traditional satellites, which are designed for defined missions, Airbus says the OneSat will be fully reconfigurable in orbit for tunable coverage area, capacity, and frequency.
Elsewhere, multinational electronics manufacturer三菱电最近开发的一种新方法3D打印自由形式卫星天线内轨。revo技术lves around a newly-developed liquid resin, which is not only custom-made for manufacturing in a vacuum, but is capable of photopolymerization via the sun’s UV rays.
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Featured image shows an RF patch antenna 3D printed on the DMP Flex 350. Photo via 3D Systems.
